First off you need to pushback and stop working off the clock. I sure hope your screen name is not your real name because if it is you can be fired for working off the clock. The higher ups read these treads because they know it is the only way for them to get honest feedback. Middle management wont tell senior leadership the truth because they fear working in the field and do not want to lose their cushy desk jobs.
As a 1099 you will incur all expenses associated with mileage, printer, phone, fax, internet and will only be paid $50 for each source interview, ESI are $200, and records are $25. Out of the money you earn you will have to pay your taxes and the expenses as discussed. If you live near the beltway youāll be fine as a 1099, not sure anywhere else in the country is worth it, unless your earnings are supplementing a pension.
I got the impression that most of the 1099 folks are in fact retired special agents of one kind or another who got into this line of work for some extra cash in retirement and something to keep busy. Thatās based on a very small sample size, but it would make sense.
So reginv, are you suggesting per DOL that KGS is in violation when taking experienced FIās (capable of doing certain work) below a certain pay grade, regardless of what their āproductivityā is? If so, who do I contact as Iāve got both a story and evidence to add to their investigation.
Do these termination standards apply only to contractors or does the same apply to OPM federal investigators with the NBIB? I am currently in the hiring process for a federal position with OPM NBIB but if itās that bad I would rather just stay where Iām at. Especially since I would be relocating for this position. Any honest feedback would be greatly appreciated. Also any info from someone who is currently an investigator with OPM (not a gov contractor) thanks
Youāll probably have a more lenient time as an NBIB employee but the job is the same. We do the same job, though plenty will argue the contractor employees/1099ās work harder.
Canāt really comment on termination standards.
The job is the same but the pay will eventually be much higher. You start as a 7 but at one year a 9 and the next year an 11. Then you will be getting step increases. In my area, if I was hired as a OPM FI in 2009, I would be making at least 45k more a year.
If your base pay is not at least $22.96 an hour and conducting TESI or special interviews, then they are in violation of the SCA. The US DOL Wage & Hour division will handle complaints. KGS does not post the Wage Determination on any website but it is in a hallway somewhere in Loveland and they consider that good enough to comply with the SCA section that requires it to be posted for all employees. I dont know about you, but I never been to Loveland.
Contact your local US DOL office.
This means that KGS and CACI have been in violation for every new FI they have ever hired in the history of the contract. All those new FI that CACI and KGS paid $15/hour and then slammed them with spins/SSBI have lost out on compensation.
Additionally, and perhaps a bigger issue, is that OPM and OPMās agency customers lost out on case quality that they are paying for. This is possibly the much bigger issue here.
OPM charges agencies an amount for each investigation believing that more experienced investigators are performing certain types of work. Meanwhile the contractors are paying $15 to some rookie to complete issue laden ESIās. This can result in incomplete issue resolution, incorrect attempts at records, and not being able to determine best sources among other things.
Question to the OPM S/Aās out there. Have you been assigned SPINS, TESI or special interviews as new investigators? Perhaps so, but in any case, the DOL Wage Determination does not apply as all GS-7s make more than $18/hr.
OPM is part of the problem and is looking the other way when it comes to what KGS is paying. If the private contractors paid a comparable wage to the GS pay, OPM would be out of the security clearance business as their budget would skyrocket and Congress would have a coronary.
OPM has kept the Wage Determination wages as nationwide and not regionally adjusted on purpose.OPM is as much as a for-profit agency as KGS or CACI.
It always adds credibility to the whole no-tangled tiered investigation process to know that the guy behind it, former DNI James Clapper, is an admitted perjurer to the U.S. Congress (the American people).
Just out of curiousity, can anyone elaborate on this? Iāve been doing this a little over a year, and havenāt heard of anyone being involuntarily terminated for not meeting their metrics, and have had discussions with co-workers about whether this actually happens and if so how often, given the amount of work there is, it seems the company would be loosing more by cutting an FI loose than just keeping a trained employee even if they are a little low on production.
Is this something that happens with 1 company more than another, like KGS over CACI, or CACI over KGS? Is it all of them, and its just very well swept under the rug? Is it not a common thing?
I agree that it does not make any sense but it does happen and hereās why. The system is set up for the SL/TL to keep bringing in new investigators as the stats of new investigators impact the teams overall scores differently then experienced investigators.
There is something like 6 months that the stats donāt count against the team but they actually help. So itās better in the short term for a SL to get rid of an experienced investigator and bring in a new hire. Plus they get to talk up how they are busy ādevelopingā the newbie. As a new investigator you are off the radar and you may have a good SL.
Stick around long enough and you will see. I have seen this happen on all of my teams at all of the contractors going back 5+ years.
millennium ā I have seen top paid FIās terminated for not meeting expectations or meeting expectations but not recording their overtime. However, that was at USIS. Since then, I have seen well experienced FI demoted to entry level pay even after fulfilling a performance improvement plan. Unfortunately, that company is headed by a former USIS executive and has been the subject of many of these replies. I cannot speak for CACI but KGS management cares little for their experienced employees and will take advantage of new hires by paying below scale. USIS targeted higher paid FIās to make room for new hires and I see KGS on a massive hiring spree. I fear KGS is mirroring USIS.
Forget āmirroringā USIS, theyāre worse! As far as an FI being terminated for meeting expectations, but not recording their time? My experience has been that itāll be ignored (no need to cook a golden goose), but once that person decides that theyāre tired and ready for a real life and try to back off to settle down to have a family, etc. their management will be all over them then for the very noticeable drop in the numbers (due to the ARTIFICIAL precedent that was already set) and then itās not long before complete burnout, or termination, if the person is stupid enough to admit to their time falsification!
Iāve always advised any new hire Iām training to never give them any extra time, and amazingly enough, anyone Iāve trained has lasted longer than many of the ones the company-favored āsuper-duper-troopersā trained! Go figure! NO respect for the Kool-aid drinkers, suck-ups, brown-nosers, whatever one wants to call them. Any hero can be a bum and rightly so! I havenāt seen a super performer yet that I felt got there honestly and Iāve watched almost every one of them fall from grace at some point, some how! So donāt be THAT guy/gal!
OPM would be well advised to try to nip this encouraged culture in the butt, because itās the real threat to national security where true falsification is concerned. Those ones that ascend quickly and then descend, will be the desperate ones capable of trying anything to hold onto what they did not earn honestly. Unfortunately us honest average people get overlooked and not properly rewarded for the true hard work and therein is the real travesty.
Chances are you wonāt be given a heads up. What I relay to you is a cautionary tale. I know a couple of FIs who worked the job for said company for years. They stopped working off the clock and dropped down to ~100-110% of expectations. While they had a good RZ rate, their ACD rate was bad because they were no longer able to do the 150% at which they were assigned.
Now, since this company doesnāt need any more lawsuits for unjust labor practices they use another tool. This FI called me one day and said [he/she] was being suspended for an integrity issue. This FI was stunned. So was I because this FI is as honest, diligent, and hardworking as the day is long. I went on to learn this is a tool used to cut loose anyone they want at any time for any reason. If they want to terminate you without cause they can simply āfindā a possible integrity issue. One of the my FI friends was destroyed by this and didnāt want to talk about it. The other told me everything. You wouldnāt believe the issue they were looking into. The FI was able to get information somehow through FOIA. I donāt want to mention the issue but it was similar to the FI goes monthly to get several employment records from the same HR person for 5 years. There might have least one instance of the FI not repeating the Privacy Act when obtaining the record. Now, thereās no way such an omission could ever be found but the 3 months of leave without pay and absolute silence from the company makes about 100% of the FI in such a situation quit.
This FI was able to find another job, a much better job in an entirely different field, and was able to put this grave injustice behind [him/her]. Thank God it never happened to me. It would probably drive me into depression. Then again, when I was an FTE I worked 7 days/week and consistently did 135% of expectations and did brown-nosing that wouldāve made Dale Carnegie embarrassed.
I got let go from CACI for production and was thinking that I would start with another company as a 1099. I figured its less stress. Is there anyone out there that has worked as a 1099? Is this a better route stress wise?
Thanks